Good and Cheap food: a cookbook developed to meet nutritional
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fruits and vegetables, innovative variations, and frugality that allows for
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free online. To enlarge text, hold down the ctrl key while pressing the plus
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ChinaLabor Watch says wages are very low and living conditions in dormitories that house workers are very harsh. Families are separated by conditions of work and living accommodations. "Overtime can run to nearly three times the legal limit." Some of the most popular brand name toys, such as Barbie dolls, Thomas the Tank Engine Minis, and Fisher-Price Learn with Me Zebra Walker, are made in Chinese factories.

One day before the previously announced deadline for protesters to leave the camp of Native Americans and environmental activists set up to block drilling for oil under a major source of water for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, which has authority over the project, announced it will not permit the drilling. The Corps will look for alternative routes for the pipeline.

The tribe and its many supporters joyously celebrated the decision as a major victory after months of effort in the face of great difficulties, but the tribe's attorney warned it could still be overturned by the incoming Trump administration.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has today written to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe that the camp being used by protesters of the Dakota Access Pipeline will be closed on December 5 and all occupants evicted. Tribe chairman Dave ArchambaultII has stated the tribe's resistance to the pipeline will continue.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said the levels found are not risky for consumers, but some scientists say this is misleading because the data does not show effects of "regular, repeated consumption".

"Spinach, strawberries, grapes, green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers and watermelon were among the foods found with illegal pesticide residue levels. Even residues of chemicals long banned in the United States were found, including residues of DDT or its metabolites found in spinach and potatoes."

There was no data on glyphosate, a suspected carcinogen, "the most widely used herbicide in the world", and the most important ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup.

Tests by the Federal Department of Agriculture and private concerns also produced disturbing results and lack sufficient data to support safety claims. They raise the question whether regulations are designed more to protect producers of the pesticides than consumers of the foods.

The $3.7 billion Dakota Access Pipeline, owned by Energy Transfer Partners, runs through North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois. This oil pipeline has highlighted controversy between protesting Native Americans and environmental activists vs. corporations that stand to profit from fossil fuels, with accusations of violence against both sides.

The election of Donald Trump as incoming U.S. President has made Dakota Access owner Energy Transfer Partners CEO Kelcy Warren "100 percent sure that the pipeline will be approved". Trump has sizable investments in the project, and has spoken in favor of using America's large fossil fuel reserves, but has not commented on this particular pipeline.

Thousands of protesters planned nationwide protests starting yesterday, Nov. 15. They claim sacred sites and safety of water in the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation are threatened by a potential leak in the pipeline. The pipeline is scheduled to go under Lake Oahe, the reservoir on which the Sioux depend for their water.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has final authority over construction of the pipeline. Sioux tribe Chair David Archambault wants the Corps to deny a permit to cross Lake Oahe and require the pipeline to be rerouted farther from Sioux lands.

For a a concise summary of the issues and legal actions, see nbc news Nov. 4.

For more detailed but fascinating information well worth your time, including history of relations between American Indian tribes--legally sovereign nations--and the U.S. government, see The Atlantic, Sept. 9. Of particular interest is the section on the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie and the land beneath the pipeline.

The Atlantic notes that "Of course, this history does not answer whose land it really is: American law still respects the underlying logic of the 'doctrine of discovery,' the idea that European Christians could lay claim to land if they were the first to document it. But it is in partial recognition of the painful history of colonial land grabs that modern federal law accords certain rights to Native groups. Since 1992, one of these rights could be described as the right to be consulted: Whenever a federal agency undertakes or approves a construction project, it must consult with local Native nations or tribes about whether sacred sites or places are nearby."

"The company says in government documents that an electrical connector for the passenger seat air bag sensor can become disconnected. That can cause the air bag to inflate when a child is in the seat or deploy with too little force to protect an adult. In both cases, passengers could be hurt, but Hyundai says it has no reports of injuries."

The phablets had problems with some of them catching fire and exploding. Some of the replacement devices also caught fire. Samsung has stopped all sales, replacement, and production of the phones. "The handset was never released for sale in the UK."

The EpiPen auto-injector is used to reverse serious allergic reactions. Medicaid claimed EpiPen maker Mylan misclassified the drug as generic, thus paying far less in required rebates to Medicaid than it should have for a brand name drug.

"In legal tiger farms across China, some 6,000 caged cats are kept in filthy conditions and will be killed for dubious medicinal uses and as home decor for the country's newly-rich elite. The sordid business is mostly legal, but hides behind carefully-worded agreements and pretensions of conservation. The issue is expected to be addressed at this week's Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in Johannesburg."

EpiPen is a device that saves lives of children with severe allergic reactions. The company that manufactures it, Mylan N.V., has raised the price drastically since 2007. "Several lawmakers noted EpiPen's growing profits over the same period as well as [the CEO's] annual salary, which has increased from around $2.5 million to more than $18 million."

"The measure was part of the Energy Transition For Green Growth bill that was passed in 2015 and went into effect last month. But producers of disposal plates, cups and cutlery will have until 2020 to make sure their products are made with biologically sourced materials and can be composted."

"'Canned' lion hunting is illegal in South Africa, but captive-bred lion hunting is allowed. Amid a raft of regulations there is a fine line between the two - and something which differs by province." A guide whistles to a lion, the lion stops, and the "hunter", who pays big bucks for the privilege, shoots.

Proponents of the practice (sport??) argue it expands the habitat of these endangered animals and others introduced as prey, and that "managed breeding can strengthen the gene pool".

Microbeads used in scrubbing in cleaners and cosmetics end up in the ocean and damage marine animals who eat them, adding to the damage caused by plastic bags. They are hard to detect in ingredients lists. See to see products that do/do not contain them.

According to China Labor Watch, Pegatron and Foxconn continue to exploit workers with excessive required overtime, wages below the legal minimum, "daily unpaid labor of more than one hour, cramped and unsanitary living conditions in factory dormitories, and the failure to provide necessary protective equipment, which puts the health and safety of workers at risk".

Violations "are happening a full decade after they were first brought to Apple's attention", according to the article.

The chemical, dicamba, is a herbicide. "This past spring, Monsanto Co. started selling GM Roundup Ready Xtend soybean and cotton seeds to farmers in Missouri and several other states. The seeds are genetically engineered to withstand sprays of glyphosate and dicamba herbicides. The problem is that the Xtend dicamba herbicide designed to go with the seeds has not yet been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), leading many farmers to spray their GMO soybeans and cotton with older formulas of dicamba—illegally."

"While Monsanto's GMO crops can tolerate sprays of dicamba, other crops can't." Farmers in areas affected by dicamba drift may be forced to stop growing non-GMO crops and start using Monsanto's seeds instead. Some have experienced massive damage to a wide range of crops, such as soybeans, cotton, fruits and vegetables.

Resistance to current herbicides grows rapidly, creating a vicious circle of new herbicides and new GMO crops that resist the herbicides. Farmers' and home gardeners' choices of what they can grow and still stay in business may become severely limited.

The Aug. 2 crash with another vehicle damaged both cars but did not cause injuries. A previous crash in Florida was fatal. Tesla removed the terms "autopilot" and "self-driving" from its website and replaced them with the term "self-assisted driving". Chinese law requires a driver to keep both hands on the wheel. Additional training for employees demonstrating the autopilot function re-emphasizes the two hands rule and that drivers are "responsible for always maintaining control of the vehicle", but "other Tesla drivers interviewed by Reuters said China sales staff took their hands off the wheel while demonstrating the function."

Once again, animal rights activists have posed as employees to take undercover videos of the cramped living conditions and appallingly abusive treatment chickens go through to render billions of dollars in poultry sales for Tyson. One of the videos is shown in the link above. Forewarned is forarmed: if you watch it, you may never enjoy eating chicken again.

The New York Times reveals the long arm of corporate money and influence reaches even to respected tax-exempt Washington think tanks like the Brookings Institution. "Thousands of pages of internal memos and confidential correspondence between Brookings and other donors — like JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s largest bank; K.K.R., the global investment firm; Microsoft, the software giant; and Hitachi, the Japanese conglomerate — show that financial support often came with assurances from Brookings that it would provide “donation benefits,” including setting up events featuring corporate executives with government officials...."

"More than half a million people have signed an online petition calling for the closure of a theme park in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, where a polar bear is on show." China has no animal welfare law, but people are concerned the bear is kept in a small space and has no company.

"Over the weekend [Kimberly-Clark] became the latest multinational to close or scale back operations in the country, citing strict currency controls, a lack of raw materials and soaring inflation. General Mills, Procter & Gamble and other corporations have reduced operations in Venezuela as the country is gripped by economic crisis and widespread shortages of basic household goods."

Ryan Mallett–Outtrim of Counterpunch argues the main cause of Venezuela's woes is mismanagement of the currency rate--a capitalist rather than socialist phenomenon, he says. Focusing on the booming oil industry left other sectors of the economy dependent on imports by private industry, which because of currency devaluation has been unable to buy needed goods.

Getting currency at cheap rates unsustainably subsidized by the government led to corrupt speculators buying currency from the government supposedly to import needed goods but not importing goods at all, instead using the government currency to buy still cheaper currency on the black market, then repeating the practice in a vicious cycle. Political factors have made tough currency decisions difficult, ensuring that no matter what is decided, some powerful groups will be unhappy. Ryan-Mallet says former President Hugo Chavez was more willing to make these kinds of decisions than current President Nicolas Maduro.

"The average American meal travels 1,500 miles from farm to plate", contributing significantly to carbon emissions. Darden, owner of brands such as Olive Garden Yard House, and Long Horn Steakhouse, could help considerably by buying locally grown food. It could also help by paying the full federal minimum wage to tipped workers, which is required in only 7 states.

Volkswagen CEO Maatthias Muller said the situation is not comparable. He said emissions standards in the U.S. are stricter, buyback is voluntary in the U.S. but not Germany, and VW has to offer German customers incentives.

"China, where an animal-loving middle class has been trying to change old ways, has promoted substitutes for tiger bones, rhino horns and certain other wild animal products, but doubts persist about their usefulness even among some officials."

Strikes in China are not officially allowed but are not illegal. Ironically the only union is tightly controlled by the communist government and not by workers. Hence the great number of wildcat strikes not called by union leaders.

The system of flexible scheduling allows Walmart to avoid overtime pay for days longer than 8 hours by assigning fewer hours on other days, as long as they assign no more than 174 hours in a month. In addition, irregular scheduling makes it very difficult to maintain a second job.

"Moreover, workers fear the system will open the door to replacing more full-time jobs with part-time and casual ones—a familiar development for Walmart workers in the United States."

Workers say Walmart has used coercive tactics to get them to sign agreement with the new flexible scheduling policy. They also have been intimidated by Walmart management to refrain from effective organizing. Lack of real collective bargaining has led to falling wages after accounting for inflation.

"This struggle offers a chance to build international solidarity." Chinese and American Walmart workers have been in contact regarding flexible scheduling and the fight for a $15 minimum wage.

Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta says captivity is degrading for animals.The zoo will be converted to an ecopark and the animals who live there and are in good enough condition to be moved will be transfered to nature reserves. "Older animals and those too infirm to be moved will remain at the current site", but "will no longer be exhibited to the public".

The zoo's private concessionaires had been losing money and the zoo had been criticized for bad conditions of the animals.

The drawers can tip over when not attached to a wall. Ikea is urging customers to follow assembly instructions to attach the chests to a wall. "Consumers can choose between a refund or a free wall-anchoring repair kit."

The issue arose because complaints of suspension problems in Tesla cars had been filed with the NHTSA, and one of the owners had "said Tesla agreed to pay 50 percent of a $3,100 repair bill if the owner agreed to keep the arrangement confidential."

"Tesla said in a blog post late on Thursday that it 'has never and would never ask a customer to sign a document to prevent them from talking to NHTSA or any other government agency.' But the company said it often requires customers to sign a 'goodwill agreement' with a nondisclosure clause when the company agrees to cover or discount repairs even if it is not responsible.'"

Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted "that 37 of 40 suspension complaints filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration were fraudulent." He said "a false location or vehicle identification numbers were used."

The NHTSA said Tesla "was cooperating fully with its review and that no suspension problems had been found 'to date.'"

"'Marine species need sound for everything they do, and have exquisite hearing,' says Dr. Kenneth Balcomb. 'But now the sounds of ships is ubiquitous in all of the open oceans.'"

Whales use sound for such things as long-distance communication and detecting far-away storms.
Greatly increasing human-produced sound is drowning out sounds marine species use for such things as long-distance communication and detection of far-away storms. It also causes serious physical damage: "There have been several documented instances of US Navy sonar causing brain hemorrhaging, organ lesions and bleeding from the ears in whales."

Despite lawsuits won by the Natural Resources Defense Council's (NRDC) Marine Mammal Protection, the Navy has a long way to go to improve protection of the environment.

"California solar company SunPower, an affiliate of French oil company Total," will provide 42 percent of the Santiago metro's energy per year. 18 percent will be provided by a "San Juan wind project developed by Spain-based Elecnor and owned by Brazilian renewable energy firm Latin America Power...." Service will start in 2018.

The US is one of the largest markets for ivory in the world. Because it is impossible to distinguish between illegal ivory and legal ivory, the only way to control poaching is to ban all ivory sales. "The final revision for of the 4(d) rule of the Endangered Species Act for African elephants allows for exceptions for items containing de minimis amounts of ivory and documented antiques."

An interesting, readable, and informative description of African and Asian elephants' relationship to human society and the ecosytem is at bagheera.com.

Environmental groups say Duke Energy is shielded from scrutiny by commissioners appointed by a governor who is a former Duke executive. Duke also has powerful lobbyists and large political contributions.

The environmental groups have been ordered to post an impossibly high bond to pursue efforts to show Duke plans to increase fracking. The environmentalists also object to Duke's plans to clean up leaking coal ash pits in ways the environmentalists think are good in some ways but not adequate.

"A multistate, international citizen watchdog group called the West Coast Action Alliance (WCAA), tabulated numbers that came straight from the Navy's Northwest Training and Testing EIS (environmental impact statement) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Letters of Authorization for incidental 'takes' of marine mammals issued by NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service."

Use of sonar and explosives contributes to injury and sometimes deaths of the animals. Other species and areas, such as the Gulf of Alaska, are also severely threatened by greatly increasing military activities.

Critics note a lack of transparency to the public about the numbers of animals harmed and collusion between agencies such as the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Navy. They also say that when it comes to legal restrictions on harm to marine life, national security trumps environmental impacts in the political arena.

May 10 is the deadline for the public to submit comments. Many view "natural" as being good in a moral--and historically, often in a religious--sense, but there is no clear consensus as to what "natural" means in a scientific sense. The confusion has led to a proliferation of lawsuits against companies which use the term.

Missouri activists demand justice in handling bankruptcy settlements for workers, indigenous communities, and others affected by "the environmental devastation, residential displacement and unsafe labor practices of Peabody Coal, the world's second-largest coal producer, which is based in St. Louis."

"The problem is that microbeads are so tiny they slip through water treatment works and enter the ocean, where they are ingested by fish and other creatures." The United Kingdom may unilaterally ban their use in shower gels and facial scrubs if the European Union doesn't. Unilever has begun to remove them voluntarily.

A student who had searched for cancer treatment "from a hospital that came top of the list on his Baidu web search" died last month. Baidu has been accused of selling paid search results without indicating they are paid and "without adequately checking their claims."

"Last month SeaWorld announced it was ending its orca breeding programme and said the 29 orcas currently in its parks would be the last. But the company did not step back from its long-held claim that its orcas - also known as killer whales - live long healthy lives. Liz Bonnin was granted unique access to SeaWorld to investigate this claim and weigh the scientific evidence."

Modern meat chickens are bred to grow so fast they have difficulty supporting their weight on their legs. Those who live longer because they are kept as breeders get so heavy they have to be on severe diets and are always hungrey. The advantage to the poultry industry is more meat for less feed and less land to grow feed.

"Yu Shaolei, an editor at Southern Metropolis Daily, posted a resignation note online, saying he could no longer follow the Communist Party line." He also indicated his social media account had been censored.

"A columnist at the same paper, Li Xin, who disappeared in mysterious circumstances in Thailand after claiming he had been forced to inform on fellow journalists, is now back in police custody in China, our correspondent adds."

Activists have presented shareholder resolutions about moral responsibility and financial risks associated with global warming for consideration at the May ExxonMobil annual meeting. Exxon argued unsuccessfuly that it had already addressed the issues noted in the resolutions. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disagreed and ruled ExxonMobil shareholders must be allowed to vote on the resolutions.

Hard-to-remove cookies tracked customer data without their knowledge. The data was collected for the benefit of advertisers. Under a new 3-year plan with The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Verizon will be required to give customers the opportunity to opt out of being tracked.

Ransomware is an infection that locks files on computers and demands payment from computer owners to unlock the files. As the number of Macs in use increases, the attempts by hackers to target them is expected to increase also. Users of Macs and a computer program called Transmission should ugrade their software immediately.

U.S. company Johnson Controls employed this increasingly popular stragegy last month by merging with Irish company Tyco.Some U.S. Getting legislation passed in an election to slow or halt this trend is unlikely and legislators are divided on what to do about the problem.

The Coalition is putting pressure on Wendy's regarding human rights abuses in its supply chain. CIW wants Wendy's to join the Fair Food Program and buy tomatoes only from that program. CIW says Wendy's "stopped buying tomatoes from Florida after the program was implemented there", instead buying tomatoes from Mexico, "where human rights abuses in agriculture are widespread...."

"CIW has won a U.S. State Department award and a presidential medal for its efforts to combat modern-day slavery in Florida's farm fields...."

"CLWâ€™s findings suggest severe discrepancies between what Apple tells the public and its investors about the working hours of workers making its products and the reality on the production line."

"Chinese Labor Law requires that monthly overtime hours not exceed 36 hours, but at Pegatron Shanghai, only 1.1% of workersâ€™ overtime hours are within this limit." The statistical methods and data on which CLW bases its claims are given in writing and a number of graphs on its website. One graph shows a big difference bewteen CLW statistics and Apple Statistics.

Workers interviewed by CLW said they were required to attend unpaid meetings before and after their shifts.

Devices such as home thermostats that can be set by remote control and home security systems are part of the Internet of Things technology. Because vendors do not always place a high priority on security of these devices, flaws in their designs can enable hackers to infect them with malicious code. An example of such a device is the Trane thermostat, which was not updated to prevent security risks for two years after the risks were discovered. Consumers are urged to take security warnings seriously and install updates as soon as they become available.

Even minute amounts of BPS "can disrupt a cellâ€™s normal functioning, which could potentially lead to metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity, asthma, birth defects or even cancer." A rat study demonstrated heart arrhthmias in female rats.

2013 update summarizes changes in standards and controversy over increasing
availability of products with the certification by making it easier to get
certified vs. maintaining more rigorous standards. Fair World Project offers
suggestions for resolving the conflict by making product labels more transparent
about percentage of ingredients that are certified.